To all those opposed to health care reform and affordable health care..what should we do?

what should we do with working families that do not make enough to afford good preventative health care and dental care? which as we know is even more important than emergency care...for it is good preventative care that reduces major health problems.





So the question is ....ok..you are opposed to health care reform, but what would we do with senior citizens who cant afford to pay for all the medicines that they are taking, or a family of six, whose employers do not offer health insurance and the family has to go buy health insurance at $500 per month on a salary of $40,000 per year? or any other endless examples that say clearly that health care and health insurance costs are out of control...I am speaking not of bums who are not working, but working americans who are in a crisis. Plus the bums as you call them..what should happen to them? no health care at all? just let them die off in some street corner?

To all those opposed to health care reform and affordable health care..what should we do?
drinking water is a human right.





air to breathe is a human right





privacy is a human right





peace and pursuit of happiness are human rights





Affordable good preventative health care is a human right.





WE should have a sliding scale similar to this: Any family earning less than $150,000 per year qualifies for a tax credit for any insurance premiums they have to personally pay for, all the way down to families making at least $70,000 per year. Families making less than $70,000 per year get a smaller tax break, but also get a discount of up to 50% of the cost of their insurance. So they would have to go out and get their insurance and the insurance company can bill the fed government for the part the customer did not pay. Families or households making less than $25,000 per year, get free healthcare if they can provide proof of citizenship.
Reply:It IS affordable - - - health insurance is a few hundred per month, and dental insurance is a fraction of that (yes, I noticed you threw in dental there - - is vision next? How about a pedicure while we're at it?). Of the 45 million "Americans without health insurance" 20 million are illegal immigrants. That leaves 25 million - - - which out of a population of 305 million is hardly a "crisis."





And please "families who make minimum wage" - - - - about 1.5% of the workforce makes minimum wage and 70% of them get at least a 30% raise within the first six months. It's an entry-level wage - - - immigrants, teens, housewives and elderly people working 3 hour shifts at the local grocery store just to have an excuse to get out of the house make up more than 2/3 of minimum wage earners. Throw in ex-cons and you're up to 3/4.
Reply:How about the families who make minimum wage--rent and food and water comes before health insurance. If they don't need it, they're going to spend the money on something else they need. 200 a month is not affordable for families living in those conditions.
Reply:Give me a hundred bucks and I'll tell you. That's basically what your asking everybody else to do....hand over money to complete strangers because they "can't afford it." No problem..I can't afford it either. Just send me some money directly from you checking account and then we'll talk. But until then, you're just another hypocrite in Democratic clothing expecting everybody else to give these people a handout.
Reply:Question the quality of life while taking enough chemicals to kill a horse.


Stop having sex and making kids when you can barely afford one.





Maybe have some low level government sponsored health care that is availble to low income folks, but have it in no way on par (coverage wise) with private insurance companies. If I pay more for my insurance (assuming I'm healthy and am not paying extravagant premiums already), I want better service/support.
Reply:Let's look at these working people who say they cannot afford health care. How many of them have two new cars, a nice large home, TV/DVD/VCR in every room, multiple computers, Internet access, Cell phones, Eat out more than 4 nights a week or take out more than once? Most people can afford Health Insurance, they just choose not to. So your over dramatization that they will die on a street corner is just ridiculous and wrong.
Reply:I just do not want the government in control of my health care and health insurance.
Reply:So you think that giving the Gov MORE control over it will fix the problem???? If you'd like to donate your own money to help the cause that is your freedom and right to do so, I refuse to accept a policy that demands taxes out of my pay check to pay for other people...they already take medicare and social security which I will never see...what more do you want????
Reply:I doubt anyone is opposed to affordable health care, however socializing the health care system is not an option, it would ruin the quality of health care in our country. Tax incentives are certainly an option, among various other things, increasing private competition with smaller clinics for miniscule problems, instead of paying to see a doctor.





Don't forget about tort reform. That would help.
Reply:Bogus medical malpractice suits are the primary cause of the high cost of medicine. It takes the form of astronomical malpractice insurance premiums and massive legal staff required to defend and pre-empt these suits. Let's fix it!
Reply:It's a matter of priorities for us. I'm 56 and married and we are self-insured. That's important to us so we don't have a new car, don't eat out as often as we would like, don't travel as much as we want because our insurance is $700 per month and that's a great big chunk out of our monthly living expenses.
Reply:First I am not opposed to Health Care reform. I am opposed to Health Care for All By the Government or Socialized Medicine.





Guess what everyone pays for health care. If you have an employer then health care is part of you benefits package. You are paying for it instead of receiving the money.





For reform maybe the allowable increase should be capped. Or maybe once you have a policy then it is yours to keep.





If your employer does not offer health insurance the get a new employer. You may have to make 6 grand less a year but you get your insurance.





Your description is more about greed. The employee wants as much cash as possible. None of this cash is put towards a policy so why must taxpayers spring for this?
Reply:One of the earliest Senate plans was aptly named,"COBRA"?


I actually checked to see how much it would cost to keep my coverage between jobs...$560 per month! Doesn't sound too bad in 2007 but when one is earning a whopping $150 per week take home...this leaves about $40 for the monthly rent, car note and food. That was the last time I checked on "The Snake".


So I stay away from bungee jumping, skiing, and motorcycles.


And I take care of myself...eat correctly...mostly and if I get in a serious car wreck..."no oble engles" and I have amnesia for the other words!
Reply:Working families can try to get high deductible catastrophic health plans. This will protect them from financial ruin should cancer or something else happen. Most hospitals and doctors will allow you to make monthly payments as long as they get the bulk of their money from the insurance company. These same families drive expensive cars, have designer clothes and etc so why not be responsible with that money?





Senior citizens could afford more prescriptions if pharmaceutical companies were as interested in helping people as they are in making profits. Prescription markups can be as much as 4000 percent. Also, all the TV advertisement costs are being pasted on to consumers.





Universal Health Care will simply cost more in the long run. Taxes will be ridiculous and the government being involved in my medical decisions is quite frankly....terrifying! To have to wait 3-6 months for a CAT scan is a scary thought.
Reply:Did I miss something? Is health care now a "right" guaranteed under the constitution? Is the taxpayer of this country responsible for ensuring the health of everyone in this country? Sure, adequate health care is a problem, but allowing the government control over who gets what when is just begging for even more problems.
Reply:I am not opposed to healthcare reform! I am a single mom with no healthcare, because I work for a republican, %26amp; they keep electing those who will keep it for themselves! I just don't think we need to cover all the illegals! (my son is covered thru his father, so at least it would only be me! I don't smoke, %26amp; can't have any more kids %26amp; ame generally healthy!)
Reply:I love it. You don't want 'affordable' health care or health care reform. You want FREE health care. You want other people to pay for their health care AND yours. Quit polishing it up with bleeding heart stories. You're standing there with your hand out wanting folks like me to not only pay my taxes and pay for my families insurance (Currently it's over $1,400 a month), but to pay for yours as well so that you can have FREE health care. And I bet you'd call me greedy. I work and provide EVERYTHING for my family. I ask nothing of you or of anyone. I pay my way in all things and always have....ALWAYS...because I made the right decisions in my life and didn't have a family until I could afford one. Children are NOT a right, they're a responsibility! You, on the other hand, want me to provide for you and your family. You know what Moonbeam? I have enough dependents. I am not terribly amenable to picking up a few million more. Amazing.





So, to answer your question, you need to recognize that we are not immortal. That the cost of medical care today is the result of extraordinary and complex medicines and equipment that cost vast sums of money to manufacture and use. What you want is an 'affordable Rolls Royce'. People are no different today than they were a hundred years ago. We have the same diseases. Basic care and basic dentistry is not that expensive. Pay for it yourself and deal with it. But stay the heck out of my pocket you greedy, irresponsible, leech!
Reply:How will they pay for it? France has a 20% income tax and the UK's is 15%. If we use your number of $40,000 then you would be paying $667 in taxes a month for it. That is $167 dollars more than the $500 they pay with insurance.





Everyone wants something for nothing and everyone has good intentions on how to spend other peoples money. In the end though there is never something for nothing. If the government takes it over they will have to pay for it. If they pay what the insurance companies pay, it will cost more the Defense Departments budget each year.
Reply:I'm not at all apposed to heath care reform and affordable health care at all. I truly believe there must be a way to go about providing health care for everyone without breaking the bank! I'd like to see a system in place that is NOT operated by our federal government, a government that is not trustworthy when it comes to running things, in particular situations of this magnitude.
Reply:First off, to reduce the cost of health care in this country, remove liberal judges who make outrageous awards to "victims". Insurance companies are overburdened with these extreme punitive damage awards and thus have to charge more for their insurance.





As for those families who do not make enough to afford health care, find better jobs or take more jobs. Don't blame education or lack of training. If a person wants to better themselves, there is ample opportunity to do so. Heck the government can pay for most of it anyway. Further, if you can't afford the kids, don't have them until you can.





Finally, preventive healthcare? Give me a break!!!! You can't do that yourself? You can't brush your teeth daily? You can't push away from the table? You can't bring a healthy lunch instead of going to McDonald's? You can't walk around the block once or twice? Give me a Break!





As for each of your examples, there are clear, well thought out actions that would eliminate those "problems". First a family of 6, offer vasectomies and such to prevent kids being born to people who can't and/or won't be able to afford them. The elderly, what the heck is medicare, medicaid, and social security? The bums you speak of want to be so. Where are their families?





Don't present your sob stories because there are answers for each and every one of them.
Reply:Who's OPPOSED to affordable health care?





Some people have to make sacrifices for health care, but it is affordable. Going without a vacation in the alps or a flat screen TV for medication is not a health care crisis. If I got sick tomorrow I would sell my car, move someplace cheaper and streamline my life. Nobody wants to sacrifice, they want to maintain their life style on the government's dime. And, they want somebody else to pay more taxes to do it.





Should we all be held responsible for an unwed mother who has had six kids with four men? That's a curable ill.





Should we all be held responsible for the sexually promiscuous who, surprise surprise, get aids? Aids is curable, just keep it in your pajamas.





Should we all be held responsible for chain smokers?





Should we all be held responsible for people who never go for a check up, a breast exam or a colonoscopy. Most cancers are curable with early detection.





It would be more affordable if everyone was required to be covered.





The biggest obstacle to the current system is people who just walk into the emergency room, get treated and refuse the coverage counseling the hospital is required to give them. If they're not cured they get an ambulance chaser to sue a system they never paid in to.





As far as the bums go....the ones who are not insane, have made a conscious decision not to participate. Most of them are in major cities that have mobile programs funded by taxes and private organizations that bring the care to them and they still refuse it.





You can't force it on people. What would you do?





Do you really think that will change if you reform something?





Don't kid yourself.
Reply:im not opposed to health care reform... i'm opposed to universal health care... there would be just as many people die off waiting for treatment as there would be in the current system.. or wait 5 months to be seen. look, i'm one of those people you speak of... i definitely do not make 40k, and the insurance my company offers is expensive, so i do not partake.. but, i'd rather be able to pay a private practice and be taken care of if need be than to have my goverment (essentially the taxpayer) pay for a healthcare system that has proven to not be effective. there's a reason people from Canada and the like, come to the US for treatment and pay for it themselves... we need to do something about stupid malpractice lawsuits first of all... many do not realize that the insurance for malpractice is in the MILLIONS. and in turn, they pass that expense on to the patients they serve. this would drastically help. we live in an age of sue happy people, and liberal judges who find that there's always someone to blame for someone's misfortunes. the second problem, and the worst, is the pharmaceutical companies and their outrageous profits. i'm all for people making money, that's capitalism, but not at the expense of people's health.... so, universal healthcare is not the answer... that's borderline socialism. not to mention people wanna complain about government spending... and then we wanna tack another HUGE program on the fiscal calendar. something else that could help... let's try a flat tax system. get rid of SS tax and Federal Taxes. that should free up money for low-income families to afford what they need and it also will essentially and eventually make prices on products and services go down.
Reply:Sigh, why don't people like you ever listen or pay attention? Nobody is opposed to health care reform, we only oppose GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED HEALTH CARE.





Yes, there are problems with our current system, but those problems CAN NOT be solved by government, since government is the problem in most cases.





Nobody wants people to die in the street. But there is a better solution than becoming SLAVES in a government controlled system.





To be blunt, how stupid are you that the ONLY solution you can come up with is the government? There are millions of private companies and charities in the U.S. that can come up with a solution, but you're so dumb that the only thing you can think of is to create a monopoly run by professional liars (politicians). Don't you know anything about basic math or economics? MONOPOLIES ARE BAD!!!!





God help us all that people as ignorant as you are allowed to vote.
Reply:First, if you have a family of six on an annual income of 40K you must be pretty stupid. You should not have a jillion kids if you can't afford to support them. On 40K you could probably manage one kid so you would be a family of 3.


The first step in controlling health care costs is to control lawyers and their frivolous lawsuits. Next control juries who award outlandish sums of money to punish doctors who make honest mistakes. Punitive awards should be capped. Monetary awards should compensate victims for their loss and their pain and suffering. Lawyers should get no more than 10% of that. Incompetent doctors should lose their licence to practice. That's a start.
Reply:I would suggest that you have a certain income, then there are necessary expenses and health care should be one of those, and then there are the fun things, the non-necessary things. You have to live within a budget, everyone does, and that means you may not go out to dinner or movies, or go to sporting events or parties with your buds because you have to pay you necessary expenses first. To do otherwise simply means you are irresponsible and you intend on others paying them for you, which of course is WRONG.
Reply:The conservatives say screw em - let the families go broke trying to keep their loved ones alive or at least comfortable, let the seniors die, screw the homeless and incapable. I got mine - you get yours.





As I said before: Selfishness. %26lt;grin%26gt;





In other words the republican plan is: Don't get sick.